Guest House lands Golden Slipper to give Coolmore’s Home Affairs breakthrough Group 1 success
Trevor Marshallsea
ANZ News
Powerful colt Guest House put a gilt-edged seal on his young sire Home Affairs’ (I Am Invincible) exciting stud career by delivering an immediate victory in the most important race in Australian breeding with his dominant Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) triumph on Saturday.
The Melbourne colt brought a long overdue maiden win in one of Australia’s “Big Four” races for Mick Price, whose co-trainer Michael Kent Jnr let loose with a celebratory dance amid wild scenes in a damp Rosehill mounting yard after Guest House burst through the line to take the $5 million feature.
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And while Price has had to wait, Guest House - while securing his own stud future - put a golden tick at the first time of asking on the stallion CV of first season sire Home Affairs (I Am Invincible) with his win in the world’s richest two-year-old race.
Coolmore’s seven-year-old was already off to a flyer before Saturday, sitting atop the first season sires’ tables on both sides of the Tasman, with one stakes winner in each country from a combined 27 runners.
But now with his third black type victor coming in Australia’s greatest stallion-maker, Home Affairs’ $82,500 service fee of 2025 is certain to be comfortably eclipsed by whatever he stands for this year.
Guest House’s victory also underlined the current changing of the guard for the Australian stallion scene. The first four of Rosehill’s five Group 1s on Saturday were chalked up to stallions aged ten or younger. The other three went to the ten-year-old The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice) through Autumn Glow’s Ryder Stakes (Gr 1, 1500m) win and Autumn Boy’s Rosehill Guineas (Gr 1, 2000m) success, while nine-year-old Castelvecchio’s (Dundeel) daughter Aeliana took the Ranvet Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m).
Earlier this week, Price told ANZ News the Slipper should “set up nicely” for Guest House, as the sizeable colt would race off what is typically a furious pace before having the room to unwind in the straight, unlike in his third in the Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m). Price was also one of many judges to opine that Melbourne’s two-year-old form was superior to Sydney’s this season.
Those theories were emphatically validated as Guest House brought Price his first win in one of Australian majors, the other three being the Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m), Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) and the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m). He also became the first Victorian-trained winner of the Slipper since Flying Spur (Danehill) way back in 1995.
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Slightly easy at $11, the colt was well enough away from gate eight under Zac Lloyd, who was able to use his mount’s bulk to hold a positive position of 11th of the 16 in the run, racing on the fence.
Winding up in the straight behind a wall of horses, Guest House used his size again to muscle into the clear along an inside path at the 200 metres. With the trio in front of him - Streisand (Magnus), Music Time (All Too Hard) and Paradoxium (Extreme Choice) - having worked hard earlier, it was quickly clear Guest House had far more power in store for them. He surged to the lead at the 75 metres and stormed clear to score going away by 1.37 lengths.
Clinton McDonald’s Blue Diamond winner Streisand, the $7.50 second-favourite, put up a superb effort to hang on for second, with that Melbourne form fully franked.
Gratz Vella’s Music Time, who’d had four starts at his home track of Canberra for three wins, including the Black Opal Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m), also performed well to hold third at $41, 0.55 lengths further back.
The first Sydney runner home was Skyline Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) hero Campione D’Italia (Snitzel), who took fourth at $19 for Chris Waller and his Newgate-China Horse Club ownership.
Team Archibald’s filly Chayan (I Am Invincible) started the $5.50 favourite but after travelling outside Guest House in the run, finished only moderately to run eighth. Bjorn Baker’s pair Warwoven (Sword Of State) at $8.50, and Paradoxium, at $13, finished sixth and 11th respectively.
“It’s incredible. It’s a Golden Slipper. It’s the pinnacle of two-year-old racing
Bred by Love Racing PL, Henderson Racing and Breeding and G1g Racing and Breeding, Guest House was bought from Newgate’s draft at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale for $270,000 by Price, Tim Rogers Bloodstock and the Roll The Dice Racing group whose familiar colours he bears.
He’s the sixth foal out of Flamboyant Lass, the daughter of another Slipper winner in Stratum (Redoute’s Choice) who was trained by Gai Waterhouse for two wins and two stakes placings, and has also borne a Melbourne two-year-old stakes placegetter in Nitrous (Deep Field).
While Price savoured the win on TV from Caulfield, at Rosehill Kent Jnr said it was well deserved after Guest House’s first three runs. After a 0.75-length Cranbourne win at odds-on on debut, the colt ran an unlucky second in the Blue Diamond Prelude (Gr 3, 1100m) after working hard in the run, before his third in the Blue Diamond after being blocked early in a Caulfield straight that allowed him less room to build momentum than Rosehill’s.
“He’s had three runs where nothing went right. With the speed on today, he finally relaxed,” Kent Jnr said.
“Zac Lloyd, what can I say? He read the pattern, and the horse was so good.
“What a horse. He won by a big margin, going away, so fantastic.”
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Price had won 35 Group 1s solo and 13 since forming his partnership with Kent Jnr in 2019, and while a Big Four victory had eluded him until Saturday, he had proven himself a canny trainer of juveniles, with Samaready (More Than Ready) and Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt) bringing him Blue Diamond success.
He’d also had Slipper thirds with Samaready in 2012 and Flying Artie (Artie Schiller) in 2016.
“It’s so right for Mick,” Kent Jnr said. “I’m so lucky I work with Mick. He’s had so many close calls in this race. He’s a great two-year-old trainer. Himself and Timmy Rogers found the horse.
“I’m very excited. I’m rapt for Mick. He gave me a big show in this game and I’m very lucky. And credit to all our staff back at home. A lot of work goes into these good colts.”
On winning a “major”, Kent Jnr said: “That’s very good isn’t it. What a feeling.”
Ben Elam, foreman for the trainers’ Rosehill satellite stable, said: “It’s incredible. It’s a Golden Slipper. It’s the pinnacle of two-year-old racing, and he has taken a bit of work.
“Pre-Christmas, he was a bit of a lad. He went down to Melbourne, and the Melbourne staff did a terrific job with him. He came up here in tip-top shape off what was an unlucky run.
“Since he’s been up here, he has just been an absolute gentleman.”
Lloyd was delighted after his fourth Group 1, and first major.
“It was high pressure, but my colt, he was fantastic. He's obviously a very good Home Affairs' colt,” the winning rider said.
“He broke on terms. He's been a bit tricky in his mannerisms, but today he was very tractable.
“And I just quickened that well. I was just waiting for a run, but geez, he let down so well.
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“As soon as those gates opened, it's like nothing I've ever ridden before. It’s so quick, so tight. I was very happy to find the fence because that just allows the horses to just relax. They get a bit of comfort by the fence and then you just trust you've got the right horse to take the runs. I certainly did so yeah, very, very, very happy.”
Lloyd felt the full force of racing’s roller coaster just 40 minutes later when dumped onto his backside in the barrier performance that led to favourite Grafterburners’ (Graff) scratching from The Galaxy (Gr 1, 1100m). At least the 22-year-old had been able to savour victory in a race as important as the Slipper, which he said had left him “quite speechless”.
“You see all those great people that have won it before me, and you see what it does for colts, as well as fillies - how it can project them and make them worth so much money,” he said.
“For those people and the owners to give me the faith, I'm just happy I can get the job done.”
Guest House’s win restored some balance for colts in what’s supposed to be Australia’s greatest stallion-maker, but a race whose past nine editions had included six wins by fillies.
Meanwhile, Flamboyant Lass now has a yearling filly by Slipper winner Stay Inside (Extreme Choice), and after missing to the same stallion in 2025, was covered last spring by Coolmore’s debutant sire Storm Boy (Justify).
Autumn Boy takes out Rosehill Guineas to provide McDonald with landmark win
Chris Waller confirmed the exciting Autumn Boy (The Autumn Sun) would race on next season instead of a quick exit to stud after the colt gave James McDonald a landmark win in Saturday’s Rosehill Guineas (Gr 1, 2000m).
In a first try beyond the distance of his Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) triumph, Autumn Boy showed races such as the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) would be on his horizon in the spring with this effortless victory.
The headline went to McDonald and his 130th Group 1 success - taking him past the old record held by Damien Oliver. With the remarkable McDonald still only 34, it’s a safe bet that before he’s done he’ll be dozens clear of the mark set by Oliver, who was 51 when he retired in 2023.
As for McDonald’s vehicle to the record, Autumn Boy showed his star quality in beating his seven rivals, despite being sent out as the $2.45 second-favourite behind Melbourne colt Observer (Ghaiyyath), at $2.10.
Jumping from gate three, McDonald was content to trail his Godolphin rival in the run, settling in the one-one. As VRC Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) winner Observer set out after longshot leader Bingi (Snitzel) early in the straight and Autumn Boy loomed behind, it looked like the much hoped-for match race might play out.
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But Observer was quickly under pressure from Craig Williams as Autumn Boy ranged up beside. He quickly put the race to bed, ultimately winning with a clear 1.94 length gap over another Godolphin runner in Bjorn Baker’s Green Spaces (Street Boss) at $21, while Observer clung on for third.
Waller said he was delighted to see Autumn Boy pass his 2000-metre test, and pleased his owner Glenn Ritchie was happy to let him keep racing.
“We wanted to try that,” Waller said of the distance.
“Great owners, the Ritchies. I think the most disappointing thing last preparation [was] when I mentioned that he may have a short racing career, because he's such a wonderful colt.
“They said, 'Oh, we're not in a rush to retire him, we want to keep them racing’.
“So that's great. And it's good to see these colts race on and I'm sure he will. So yeah, we ticked the box for 2000 metres. His dad won it [the Rosehill Guineas]. He's won it. And yeah, we'll pick out some nice races in the spring for him.”
McDonald said it felt “special” to break the Group 1 record and expressed his admiration for Oliver, especially his 2002 Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) win aboard Media Puzzle (Theatrical) just days after his brother Jason’s death in a riding accident.
“It’s lovely,” he said of the record, “but it’s a testament to the horses that I ride because they are phenomenal.
“There’s no two ways about it, that I do ride the best horses and most favourites each race, and I’m blessed to have that opportunity.
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“To get to a mark like this, it’s obviously special. Especially with how I look up to Damien Oliver.
“When I was growing up as a ten-year-old kid, he was riding Melbourne Cup winners. One that comes to mind is Media Puzzle when he went through so much adversity and still had the vivacity to come out on top. He’s a phenomenal rider.
“I’m just blessed with a great family and great support crew.”
McDonald, who has two daughters with wife Katelyn, said he was moved by the backing he’d received as he bore down on the record.
“I’m just humbled by the support,” he said. “To be honest, I flicked social media off this week and just focused on my rides.
“It's good to see these colts race on and I'm sure he will
“But Katelyn would mention, ‘Someone said kind words about you’. That means so much. Whether I deserve it, it’s up to people’s opinion, who’s the greatest jockey to ever grace the turf. It doesn’t worry me.
“As long as I’m in the conversation, I’m very proud of it, and if my girls in ten years’ time look up and say, ‘Gee Dad, you’re pretty good’, that would mean more to me than whether someone thinks I’m the best or not.”
Bred by Richard Rutherford and purchased for $200,000 by his trainer and Guy Mulcaster out of the Amarina Farm draft at the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Autumn Boy is one of two winners from three to race out of the unraced Savabeel (Zabeel) mare Rosegarden. She was from the extended family of Group 1 winner and Group 1 sire Shamexpress (O’Reilly).
Rosegarden has a two-year-old colt by Yarraman Park’s Hellbent (I Am Invincible) and, after not being covered the following season, produced a filly by the same stallion last spring.
She was then covered again by The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice), who stood at Arrowfield Stud last season at a fee of $66,000 (inc GST).
Autumn Glow shines again in Ryder romp
Just when you thought it wasn’t possible, Autumn Glow (The Autumn Sun) became even more impressive in storming to win number 11 in Saturday’s George Ryder Stakes (Gr 1, 1500m), earning the tag of “champion” from her trainer and some awestruck wonder from her jockey.
The start before, Chris Waller’s unbeaten budding phenomenon was fully stretched by her most worthy stablemate Aeliana (Castelvecchio), having to show how much fight she has beneath all that class with a 0.4-length success in Randwick’s Verry Elleegant Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m). It was her smallest victory margin so far.
On Saturday, she recorded her widest, roaring into top gear in the home straight to dispose of a quality field of rivals by 2.79 lengths.
Ridden of course by James McDonald - giving him his 131st Group 1 win and making him the first jockey to win three of the five elite races on Rosehill’s big day - Autumn Glow settled sixth of the 12 after being sent out at Winx (Street Cry) odds again, at $1.28.
McDonald brought her four wide on the turn and the procession began. Autumn Glow whooshed past the quartet in front of her then reeled in the tiring leader Beiwacht (Bivouac) like he was a Benchmark 64 horse, rather than the Group 1-winning colt he is.
The four-year-old - ordained as the equal 15th best horse in the world in the latest IFHA rankings - would have won by far more if McDonald had ridden her out. Instead, he went to the line with one hand on the wheel of this awesome thoroughbred machine, and the other pointing to the mare’s head to highlight the star of the show.
Autumn Glow had Group 1 winners chasing her tail in second, third and fourth placings. Ciaron Maher’s Gringotts (Per Incanto) and Bjorn Baker’s Pericles (Street Boss) - both six-year-old geldings - came in ahead of Lady Shenandoah (Snitzel), another Waller-trained four-year-old mare who was once thought pretty special herself before this other contemporary came along.
Rarely, if ever, can there have been a more emphatic validation of a yearling sale’s top lot.
Arrowfield boss John Messara picked out the daughter of his own stallion The Autumn Sun, early in the week, when the Newhaven Park-bred filly was presented at Inglis Easter 2023.
He would later disclose he took one look only, lest he reveal his enthusiasm to rival bidders. Messara ended up making her the highest priced offering of the sale, when he paid $1.8 million along with Hermitage Thoroughbreds, with whom Arrowfield had raced The Autumn Sun.
With her richest payday coming through last October’s $10 million Golden Eagle (1500m), Autumn Glow has now netted over $8.6 million in prize-money following Saturday’s injection of $580,000.
Much, much more is to come, as Waller finds himself again managing the breathtaking win streak of a thoroughbred superstar, so soon after the 33 in a row of the great Winx.
On Saturday, Autumn Glow matched former Perth sprinter Barakey (Key Business) in going unbeaten through her first 11 starts. The only Australian horse above them on that table is the great 25-from-25 Black Caviar (Bel Esprit).
Saturday’s win came as icing on the cake for Waller and McDonald. The jockey had won the previous two races on Waller-trained runners - the Ranvet Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) on Aeliana, and the Rosehill Guineas on Autumn Boy - to catch and pass Damien Oliver’s Australasian record of 129 elite-level victories.
Waller and McDonald also broke the Australian record for Group 1s together in moving to 56, past the 54 of Tommy Smith and George Moore.
And with his treble, Waller moved to 192 career majors and within touching distance of the 200 barrier, eclipsed only by Smith and Bart Cummings, who so fittingly finished together, on 246.
After the anticipation of McDonald’s record, Autumn Glow’s win was pure celebration, laced with no small amount of awe.
“I guess the last two races were sort of pressure, pressure, without pulling ourselves up,” Waller said. “To get that out of the way and then to deal with a champion in the next race, it's pretty special.”
Asked if he’d unearthed racing’s holy C-word advisedly, Waller said: “Yeah, in my eyes she is. I’m qualified to know what one's like. So, yeah, she's a very talented horse. Obviously, longevity is the key now. If she keeps doing that, she'll be a champion for sure.”
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McDonald, describing Autumn Glow’s unfolding career as something “quite incredible”, had to agree with Waller when told the trainer had declared her a champion.
"Did he?” he said. “Yeah, well, he knows what a champion looks like. And for him to say that, he doesn't take it lightly. I'm sure she is. And he's a champion too.”
McDonald added: “She's important. Let's not beat around the bush. She's 11 from 11. People are here to come out and see her, and she's got such an amazing fanfare now - it's growing.
“It's incredible - the feeling you get off these horses, and it's special to witness people pin their eyeballs on her. I thought Anamoe was a big deal. This horse has taken it to a new level.
"It was evident in the week when Chris said you'll see something special. So when he says that I take notice, because her work's been phenomenal. I truly believe she loves fast ground, because there's not a horse that could come with her.
“It doesn't matter what is in the race. She's just got an amazing sustained speed, it's quite incredible what we're witnessing. She's the jockey's dream. You get nervous on horses, certain horses throughout your life, and she's one you don't."
Autumn Glow is now a $1.80 favourite for the $4 million Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m), also weight-for-age, at Randwick on April 11. It would be her first run beyond 1600 metres, and she may have to again meet Aeliana, the $2.80 second elect whose Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) success last autumn means she’s no risk at the trip.
Only the brave would doubt Autumn Glow for the distance rise. Waller, managing another unbeaten streak, would not be pinned down on whether that race would be her next target.
“I thought Anamoe was a big deal. This horse has taken it to a new level
“Just wait, wait,” he said. “We'll give them [her owners] our best opinion of what we think.
“Look, she just does everything so effortlessly. That'll help her get 2000 metres. It'd be so good to get some feedback from James. Go and ask James.”
McDonald was having none of that pressure-laced decision, but did add another ringing endorsement.
"I'm sick of bloody pointing where she goes. I'll let him [Waller[ decide, and John [Messara] will decide,” he said.
“Put it this way, I wouldn't be shying away from any horse in the country.”
Autumn Glow is supremely bred, being the fourth foal out of Via Africa (Var), South Africa’s Champion Sprinter of 2013-14 and a three-time elite-level victor, and the dam of another top tier winner in present day Newgate Farm sire In The Congo (Snitzel).
Via Africa has had her problems in the breeding barn, with no foals since Autumn Glow’s birth in 2021. She is now in foal to reigning champion sire Zoustar (Northern Meteor).
The Autumn Sun – who covered 178 mares at $66,000 at Arrowfield last spring after having 2024 off with injury – sits second on the Australian general sires’ table, behind his late barnmate Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice).
He has ten stakes winners from 223 runners at 4.48 per cent, but notably five of the ten have won at the elite level.
Aeliana makes most of opportunity as she scores in Ranvet
One Waller-McDonald super mare revelled in the absence of another as Aeliana claimed her second elite-level victory in Saturday’s Ranvet Stakes at Rosehill.
Star Thoroughbreds’ four-year-old had been unlucky enough to run into Autumn Glow in both her previous two starts and showed her class in running second to the budding phenomenon both times, the latter by just 0.4 lengths in Randwick’s Verry Elleegant Stakes late last month.
But with Autumn Glow engaged later on Saturday’s glittering Rosehill card, Aeliana took her moment in the sun, relieving punters who’d taken her $1.60 starting price with a fighting victory.
Though it was only a five-runner field, the win was full of merit, even if it wasn’t quite the demolition job of her 5.16 length Australian Derby success last autumn.
McDonald sat second-last in the run as the Waller-trained stablemate Lindermann (Lonhro) set what was only a middling pace under the wily Nash Rawiller.
Lindermann, on fresh legs, gave a strong kick to take a two-length lead into the straight as Aeliana came after him. While the resuming second-favourite Sir Delius (Frankel) looked for a moment like he was about to come after them, instead the front pair pulled away to fight a fierce battle over the last 100 metres. Though Lindermann battled doggedly, McDonald was able to lift Aeliana to victory in the last few bounds.
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Bought at Karaka by Star Thoroughbreds for $180,000 from the draft of Rich Hill Stud - who bred her with fellow Kiwis Nearco Stud - Aeliana has now amassed $3.5 million in prize-money from 17 starts, with five wins and seven minor placings.
Waller was full of praise after the race for Aeliana, who aside from her two elite victories has run second at the top level five times.
“She was made to fight for it,” the winning trainer said. “He's [Lindermann] a good horse on his day and I think Nash controlled the race really well. She had to be good to win and obviously Sir Delius on our back, that gave me a bit of a scare when he came with us.
“But you could just see, they sort of broke clear of him and then it was a fight between the stablemates.”
McDonald echoed Waller in praise of Aeliana.
“She's just incredible. Her tenacity to find the line was just superb,” the winning rider said. “She's been building to something like that and I've got to give credit to the second horse because they made us work. I was thinking, ‘This is not how the script's supposed to go’.
“Nash is a genius when it comes to that [tempo]. He just gets things on his own terms. It wasn't ideal, that's for sure, because he had a picnic up in front. But I was on a good horse and she deservedly won that one.”
Waller was unsure of a next start for Aeliana. Bookmakers wound her in to $2.80 favouritism for next Saturday’s Tancred Stakes (Gr 1, 2400m) back at Rosehill. She’s also $2.80 for Randwick’s Queen Elizabeth Stakes on April 11 - but is second-favourite there behind the $1.80 shot Autumn Glow.
“I’m not sure, but the distance is no problem,” Waller said of the Tancred. “A seven-day back-up isn't ideal. I want to see how few others go today, then try and map it all out tomorrow.”
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Rawiller was also highly impressed by the six-year-old Lindermann.
“He put up an amazing performance as he always does when he’s like that,” the jockey said. “He picked himself up off the canvas there at the 100 metres and really rallied. I thought for a stride we could worry her out of it. She is a top mare in her own right.”
Aeliana is bred in the purple, with a strong Star Thoroughbreds connection.
From the first crop of Arrowfield’s Castelvecchio (Dundeel), she’s the second foal out of Temolie (Star Witness), who was placed just once in seven starts but is a half-sister to Star’s former outstanding mare Invincibella (I Am Invincible). That mare won five stakes races for Star and Waller, including the Tatts Tiara (Gr 1, 1400m), for more than $3 million in prize-money.
Temolie is also a half-sister to two other stakes winners in Secret Blaze (Sizzling) and Extreme Flight (Extreme Choice).
The mare now has a yearling filly by Proisir (Choisir) and was covered back in Australia by Castelvecchio’s sire Dundeel (High Chaparral) last spring.
Aeliana is one of six stakes victors, two elite-level scorers and 62 winners for Castevecchio from 114 runners, at a 5.2 per cent stakes winners to runners ratio. The nine-year-old stood at Arrowfield last season for $49,500, up from $22,000 in 2024.
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